REVIEW: LARGER THAN LIFE, BY JODI PICOULT

Alice Metcalf, after earning her Ph.D. at Harvard, went to Botswana to study elephants, their memory and their behavior, but especially the process of grieving. She has learned how the matriarch in the herd informs what happens to the others, and how the loss of that matriarch can irrevocably impact the others.

How does finding an orphaned elephant calf change everything for Alice? What does she learn about how breaking the rules can have devastating consequences?

Larger Than Life (Novella) (Kindle Single), an engaging prequel to Leaving Time: A Novel, was a story I could not stop reading; I wanted to know more about Alice and what happens to her next. In this novella, we also catch a glimpse of the challenging relationship between Alice and her mother, and how that relationship defines future relationships for her in the years to come. 5.0 stars.